You said that after a couple of hours it did start.
More clarity on that...
- My wife said she only tried starting it 1x.
- I arrived on scene within about 30-40 min's. I smelled faint fuel odor (and slight burning/melting smell) at that time when standing near back of car.
- Tow truck arrived about 1 hour after that.
- Tow driver tried starting car 2-3 times.
- Next 1-2 hours were spent trying to figure out how to get the car into neutral without engine running (manual, dealer, and corporate Ford were all equally unhelpful). Ultimately, we wasted a bunch of time here believing the "brake-shift interlock" could help, but it turns out that's only helpful if the car is running.
- Tow driver then has me try to start the car about 3-4 times more while he has a battery jump connected.
- Immediately after that, I pressed and held the "brake-shift interlock" while trying to start and the car started (albeit with the strangest startup sequence I've heard from the car and with the "drive mode unavailable" message appearing on-dash).
- After that, I shifted into neutral and the tow driver pulled the car onto the bed.
- When he was about to drive away is when we noticed the leaking fuel.
So, really, the car sat for quite awhile without any start attempts, then had a series of start attempts real close together, before ultimately holding in the "brake-shift interlock" button resulted in a successful start.
I don't think it's by design that the "brake-shift interlock" aided the car in getting started, but I can't help but wonder if it was more than coincidence? Maybe holding that button in messed with the computer in a way that it was willing to start?
EDIT: So, when it finally started, it would have been the most flooded with fuel it had been.